Sustainable Transportation Advocacy

The Active Transportation Alliance recently hosted one of its monthly Advocacy Connect online lunchtime talks. This time the focus was on the CTA's Frequent Bus Network plan, several State transit- and biking-related bills, and the campaign for a 25 mph speed limit.

The Metra commuter rail system is considering renaming lines to make the system easier to understand for new and occasional riders. To get feedback on the idea from customers, the agency is conducting an online survey and scheduled three public meetings at downtown terminals this week. On Tuesday, an open house was held at Chicago Union Station, on Wednesday, it was at Ogilvie Transportation Center, and today they're at Millennium Station and La Salle Street Station from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. All Metra routes

Streetsblog Chicago is a sustainable transportation news and advocacy website, not a publication that typically covers finance. So it's not really my role to opine on whether it was a smart fiscal decision for the City Council to approve an $830 million bond deal to pay for transportation infrastructure. But let's look at how the narrow 26-23 vote went down last Wednesday; some arguments against and for the financing by alders; and reactions from walk/bike/transit boosters.

There was also discussion of ATA volunteering opportunities for National Bike Month and the Week Without Driving.

On January 13, the CTA announced that the agency's embattled President Dorval R. Carter was stepping down after more than a decade on the job. As Streetsblog discussed that day, elected officials and transit advocates had major problems with the way he ran the system, especially during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. They cited major problems with reliability, crime, and cleanliness. As early as last April, everyone from the grassroots group Commuters Take Action to Governor JB Pritzker was calling for new leadership at the agency.

Today could have been the day when Chicago joined New York City, Boston, Seattle, Portland, and even neighboring suburb Evanston in voting in favor of reducing the speed limit in the city to 25 mph. However, questions and concerns among fellow City Council members were numerous enough for Ald. Daniel La Spata (1st) to take the expected vote off the agenda for today's City Council meeting. 

Check out Part 1: Uptown, Lincoln Square, West Ridge, Rogers Park, Edgewater here

Check out Part 1: Uptown, Lincoln Square, West Ridge, Rogers Park, Edgewater here

On a frigid #GivingTuesday, the Active Transportation Alliance held its annual member party to celebrate the organization’s 2024 advocacy wins, and announce priorities for the year ahead. Well over 100 members gathered in the cavernous Revolution Brewing taproom – fittingly situated along new curb-protected bike lanes on Kedzie Avenue in Avondale. Attendees mingled for the first hour, sipping beers and scarfing down pizza from Dimo’s and chicken from Nando’s Peri Peri. Full racks in the coat-and-bike room proved that cold-weather cycling is alive and well in Chicago.